Friday, August 06, 2004

Twacking Chairman, Crouching Secretary

I had drinks with Spanky last night. His real name isn’t Spanky, of course. Spanky is this good-looking, charming yet easily distracted guy. We’re old pals, Spanky and I, but we haven’t seen each other since over three years ago. He couldn’t get over how different I am now. I think he means mostly in attitude. Spanky met me in a very bad time of my life so it’s no wonder he finds me so different today.

Have you ever met people and think, ‘wow – he/she has the It factor?’ Because Spanky is one of those people. The It factor can mean many things to different people but to me, it’s about being able to go really far in life – not just on a personal level. The It Girl or Boy has so much potential that they are not even aware of themselves, because they are often burdened with issues, e.g. insecurity, unwillingness to get out of comfort zone, etc. I’m not saying that Spanky has any of these issues but I think once he’s more comfortable with himself, he really could go very far. Needless to say, Spanky is not your average person.

I got whacked gently a couple of times with a ruler last night – not by Spanky, but the Chairman of the ngo that I’m volunteering for. It was all in kind jest – I think – but that’s the last time I’m sitting next to him. It’s going to take some time to adjust to the new committee. Currently, it’s Thwacking Chairman, Crouching Secretary but no longer - I’m bringing in my own rattan cane for the next meeting. I'd show him who's really boss.

There was wonderful good weather yesterday evening. The kind that made me run out to the garden and attempt to take some arty-farty photos.

This is Frodo.

Frodo peed on Daniel’s bag once. Frodo doesn’t like Daniel much. Since Daniel left, Frodo’s been strutting around with a wide grin on his face. This is a semi-blurry photo of Frodo because he can’t stop strutting.

mac: i'm going to be brutal and say that while everyone has probably some It Factor in them, it's so diluted over selfish needs that it becomes the Bit Factor. I'm always impressed by people like Spanky who think beyond themselves and want to do something for the world. Maybe it's just-out-of-university-enthusiasm-and-now-i-want-to-save-the-worldism and well, give him a couple of years, and he'd be bitter and jaded like the rest of us - hah! But I sense in him this great drive to do something worthwhile that I just don't see in a lot of people.

Frodo has the It Factor - he wants to be dictator of the household, and has been actively terrorizing doggie residents since the untimely death of a larger rival, the Rex the Rottweiler.